Jim McCourt, James Walsh, and Ray Burns all hail from Ireland, but they weren’t interested in opening just another Irish pub in Charleston—so they opened a craft cocktail bar instead. Prohibition, a nod to 1920s speakeasies, serves up a menu of creative cocktails and upscale bites that’s a far cry from the foamy pints or thick-cut chips you might find in UK pubs.
Nonetheless McCourt, who’s also the bar director, stays true to his roots. “We do really love using some of the amazing, lesser-known products that come from Ireland,” McCourt says. “When we find an Irish distiller producing spirits that we really love, we work to help them find local distributors so we can help introduce Irish products at home.” As a result, Prohibition boasts one of the largest collections of Irish whiskey in the South.
The approach of St. Patrick’s Day, then, necessitated a nod from Prohibition’s cocktail menu. McCourt’s Frozen Irish Coffee is a riff on the classic beverage with the temperature turned down, designed with Charleston’s abundance of warm-weather days in mind. Rich coffee liqueur adds depth to a dark roast base, and there’s a boozy whipped cream to top it all off, creating a cocktail festive enough for imbibing on the early side. It is a holiday, after all.
